Battery charging method and electronic device

ABSTRACT

A method comprises providing power from a battery to an external device using a first circuit; and receiving power from a first power source to provide power to the battery using a second circuit while providing power to the external device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.13/908,311, filed on Jun. 3, 2013, which claims priority to KoreanPatent Application No. 10-2012-0065421, filed Jun. 19, 2012. Thecontents of each of these applications are incorporated herein in theirentirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a method for charging a battery of anelectronic device.

BACKGROUND

With popular and high demand for a portable electronic device, there isa growing interest in a high performance battery that can extend batterylife and improve its performance.

An electronic device may provide a USB (Universal Serial Bus) On-The-Go(OTG) function. The USB OTG function allows electronic devices, such asa Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a MP3 player, a mobile phone, amouse, a keyboard, a memory and the like, to communicate with each otherthrough a USB connection without intervention of a computer. Forexample, a function of transmitting data when a storage device isconnected to a mobile phone through a USB connection is called an USBOTG function.

A USB connection may provide for a supply of power (e.g. 5-volt powersupply) and it may be possible to use a USB cable as a power source forrecharging batteries. For example, when a USB OTG operation isperformed, an electronic device acting as a server may supply power toan electronic device acting as a client. In addition, an electronicdevice may be supplied with one specific charging circuit selected by amanufacturer. For example, the electronic device may include onespecific charging circuit selected by a manufacturer.

SUMMARY

A method in an electronic device comprises: providing power from abattery to an external device using a first circuit; and receiving powerfrom a first power source to provide power to the battery using a secondcircuit while providing power to the external device.

An electronic device comprises: a battery; a first circuit for providingpower from the battery to an external device; and a second circuit forreceiving power from a first power source to provide power to thebattery while the first power source provides the power to the externaldevice.

A method in an electronic device comprises: selecting a circuit from aplurality of circuits, based on determining that a first electronicdevice is connected to a second electronic device; and charging abattery using power supplied from the first electronic device via theselected charging circuit.

An electronic device comprises: a battery; a plurality of chargingcircuits; and a processor for selecting a circuit from a plurality ofcircuits, based on determining that a first electronic device isconnected to a second electronic device, wherein the selected circuitcharges the battery using power supplied from the first electronicdevice.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For purposes of explanation, several aspects of the present disclosureare set forth in the following figures.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a block configuration of an electronicdevice according to the present disclosure;

FIGS. 2A and 2B is a diagram illustrating block configuration of thecharging unit of an electronic device according to the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a procedure of performing an OTG andcharging according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a procedure of performing a wirecharging according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5A is a diagram illustrating a procedure of performing an OTGoperation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5B is a diagram means for a procedure of performing a wirelesscharging while performing an OTG operation according to the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 6A is a diagram illustrating a procedure of performing s wirecharging according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 6B is a diagram illustrating means for performing a wire chargingprocedure according to the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments of the present disclosure are described below withreference to the accompanying drawings. For the purposes of clarity andsimplicity, detailed descriptions of well-known functions orconfigurations may be omitted as they may unnecessarily obscure thesubject matters of the present disclosure.

An electronic device described in the present disclosure may be, forexample, a mobile terminal, a smart phone, a tablet personal computer, adigital camera, a MP3 player, a laptop computer, a netbook and a potablegame player, or other electronic devices having a battery. A battery asdescribed in the present disclosure may be a rechargeable battery.

The following description will be given for an example case where anelectronic device includes two charging circuits. However, it should benoted that the teachings of the present disclosure can be applied to acase where the electronic device includes two or more charging circuits.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block configuration of an electronic deviceaccording to the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 1, the electronic device may include a processor 100,a memory 110, a charging unit 120, an external device interface 130, anda touch screen 140.

The processor 100 may execute various software programs to control andprocess an overall operation of the electronic device. The processor 100may execute software programs stored in the memory 110 to performfunctions corresponding to the executed software programs. The operationdescribed below that may be described as being performed by theprocessor 100 may also be performed by at least one hardware that isseparately configured, and/or may be performed by software. For example,the operations of the processor 100 may be executed directly by hardwareintegrated in the charging unit 120. The processor 100 may beimplemented using one or more processors.

The processor 100 according to the present disclosure may execute an OTGcontrol program 113 stored in the memory 110 to operate in a USB OTGmode. That is, the processor 100 may control functions for supplyingpower while communicating with a device that is connected through theexternal device interface 130. For example, the connected device may bean external electronic device capable of being connected to theelectronic device through a USB connection such as, for example, amobile phone, a keyboard, a mouse or a storage device, for exchangingsignals. The connected device may be, for example, a wire-connectiondevice which is connected to the electronic device using a wiredconnection.

Further, the processor 100 may execute a charging control program 114 tocause the charging unit 120 to receive power from a wired chargingdevice and/or a wireless charging device connected to the electronicdevice through the external device interface 130 for charging a battery.The processor 100 may cause power supplied from a wire charging deviceand a wireless charging device, both of which may be supplied throughthe external device interface 130, to be applied to the charging device120 through different input terminals. Using the different inputterminals, the charging unit 120 can perform wire charging and wirelesscharging simultaneously. The wired charging device may be, for example,a Travel Adaptor (TA) or a USB charger that are connected to theelectronic device through USB connection. The wireless charging devicemay be, for example, an external device wirelessly connected to theelectronic device through the external device interface 130.

Further, the processor 100 may cause the charging unit 120 to charge abattery by wireless charging from the external device interface 130during a wireless charging mode while, for example, the electronicdevice is in the USB OTG mode.

In addition, for example, when the connection of the wired chargingdevice (e.g., power adapter) to the external device interface 130 isdetected, the processor 100 may detect the ID, type and/or chargecapacity of the connected wired charging device. The processor 100 mayselect a suitable charging circuit (or circuitry) corresponding to thedetected ID, type and/or charge capacity of the wired charging devicebetween the two charging circuits that are included in the charging unit120, and then may cause the charging unit 120 to charge the batterythrough the selected charging circuit. The processor 100 can obtaininformation about the type of the wire charging device through the IDinformation received from the charging device. The ID information of thecharging device may be obtained, for example, based on a detectedvoltage (or a current) value at ID pin included in the external deviceinterface 130. For example, if the voltage (current) value detected viathe external device interface 130 is one corresponding to the connectiona travel adaptor (TA) (the processor may determine the type of the wirecharging device to the external device interface 130 as the TA. Asanother example, if the resistance value detected via the externaldevice interface 130 is another corresponding to a USB storage device ora USB charger, the processor may determine the type of the wire chargingdevice to the external device interface 130 as the USB storage device orthe USB charger.

The memory 110 stores various programs and data including commands foran overall operation of the electronic device. The memory 110 may beimplemented, for example, using one of high-speed random-access memory(RAMs) and/or nonvolatile memory such as a magnetic disk storage device,one or more optical storage devices, and/or a flash memory (for example,NAND flash memory or NOR flash memory).

The various programs stored in the memory 110 may include a displaycontrol program 111, a touch processing program 112, an OTG controlprogram 113 and a charging control program 114. In addition, the memory110 may store charge circuitry selection information corresponding totype and/or charge capacity of a particular charging device that may beused in determining the charge circuitry for charging the electronicdevice.

The display control program 111 may include instructions for displayingvarious information generated during operation of the electronic deviceon the display unit 141. For example, the display control program 111may include instructions for displaying information indicating that theelectronic device is performing a wired charging and/or a wirelesscharging on the display unit 141 and instructions for displayinginformation indicating that the electronic device is performing the USBOTG operation while performing a wireless charging on the display unit141.

The touch processing program 112 includes a command for detecting a userinput generated through the input unit 142 of the touch screen duringoperation of the electronic device. For example, the touch processingprogram 112 may include a command for detecting a user input requiringentry into the USB OTG mode.

The OTG control program 113 may include instructions for supplying powerto the wire-connection device when the wire-connection device isdetected through the external device interface 130, while communicatingwith the detected wire-connection device.

The charging control program 114 may include instructions for receivingpower from the wire charging device and/or the wireless charging deviceconnected to the electronic device and enabling the battery to becharged when a connection to the wire charging device and/or thewireless charging device is detected through the external deviceinterface 130.

In addition, the charging control program 114 may include instructionsfor selecting a charging circuit corresponding to the type and/or chargecapacity of a specific wire charging device when the connection to thewire charging device is detected and charging the battery using theselected charging circuit. For example, if the ID of the wired chargingdevice represents a TA having a charging current equal to or greaterthan 1A, the charging control program 114 may select a switchingcharging circuit which may have higher efficiency and lower heatgeneration. If the ID of the wire charging device represents a USBstorage device having a charging current of 400 mA or a TA having acharging current of 500 mA, the charging control program 114 may selecta linear charging circuit which may have higher resistance to ElectroMagnetic Interference (EMI) and a headroom voltage.

For selecting a charging circuit based on the detected ID of the wirecharging device as discussed above, charging current information of thewire charging devices or charging circuit information, for therespective IDs of the wire charging device, may be used. The chargingcurrent information and/or the charging circuit information may bestored, for example in the memory 110.

In another example, the charging control program 114 may include acommand for selecting the switching charging circuit if the chargecapacity of the wire charging device is equal to or higher than athreshold value or selecting the linear charging circuit if the chargecapacity of the wire charging device is lower than the threshold value.The switching charging circuit may be a charging circuit for performingthe supply and shut-off of power repeatedly, and may include one of aswitching regulator, a buck regulator, a booster regulator and a SEPICregulator. The linear charging circuit may be a charging circuit thatsupplies some voltage out of an entire available voltage for charging,while dissipating remaining voltage as heat. The linear charging circuitmay include a linear regulator.

For charging the battery (not shown), the charging unit 120 may receivepower from a wireless charging device and/or a wired charging deviceconnected the electronic device via an external device interfaceaccording to the control of the processor 100. That is, for charging thebattery, the charging unit 120 may convert power supplied from thewireless charging device and/or the wired charging device into acharging voltage and a charging current that are suitable for theelectronic device. In addition, the charging unit 120 may provide thewire-connection device connected to the electronic device through theexternal device interface 130 with the charging voltage and chargingcurrent of the battery (not shown). The charging unit 120 may detect awireless charging event by detecting induced current inputted via anexternal device interface.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the charging unit120 may include a first charging circuit 200 and a second chargingcircuit 210 which receive different inputs as illustrated in FIG. 2A.

Referring to FIG. 2A, the first charging circuit 200 is electricallyconnected to the wire charging device or the wire-connection devicewhich is wire-connected to the electronic device via an external deviceinterface 130. The first charging circuit 200 may convert power suppliedfrom the wire charging device into a charging voltage and a chargingcurrent according to a control signal from the processor 100 and mayalso provide the converted charging voltage and charging current to thebattery 220. The first charging circuit 200 may provide the chargingvoltage and the charging current of the battery 220 to the wireconnection device according to the control signal. Also, the firstcharging circuit 200 may include a switch, and through a switchingoperation controlled by the processor 100, may provide power suppliedfrom the wire charging device to the second charging circuit 210 withoutprocessing. Further, when the wire charging device is connected to theelectronic device through the external device interface 130, the firstcharging circuit 200 may determine the capacity of the charging current(charging capacity) of the wire charging device and may inform theprocessor 100 of the charging capacity. Moreover, depending on designs,the first charging circuit 200 may determine charging capacity of theconnected wire charging device, and directly process the received poweraccording to the determined charging capacity without control of theprocessor 100, to charge the battery. The first charging circuit 200 maybe, for example, a switching charging circuit or a linear chargingcircuit.

The second charging circuit 210 may receive power input from thewireless charging device wirelessly connected to the electronic devicethrough the external device interface 130. The second charging circuit200 may convert the power supplied from the wireless charging deviceinto the charging voltage and the charging current, according to thecontrol signal of the processor 100, and provide to the battery 220. Thesecond charging circuit 200 may be a switching charging circuit or alinear charging circuit. For example, the first charging circuit 200 andthe second charging circuit 210 may be the same type of charging circuitor different types of charging circuits. In addition, the first chargingcircuit 200 and the second charging circuit 210 may be integrated into asingle chip or respectively into two chips.

As described above, by including the first charging circuit 200 and thesecond charging circuit 210 the charging unit 120 may charge the battery220 by receiving power from the wire charging device and at the sametime from the wireless charging device through the first chargingcircuit 200 and the second charging circuit, respectively. In addition,the charging unit 120 can supply power from the battery 220 to the wireconnection device that is connected to the electronic device through theexternal device interface 130 via the first charging circuit 200, and atthe same time receive the power from the wireless charging device thatis connected to the electronic device through the external deviceinterface 130 via the second charging circuit 210 to charge the battery220.

According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, the chargingunit 120 may include a first charging circuit 200, second chargingcircuit 210 and a switch 202 as illustrated in FIG. 2B.

Referring to FIG. 2B, the switch 202 may perform a switching operationto connect the first charging circuit 200 and power supply path of thewire charging device or connect the second charging circuit 210 andpower supply path of the wire charging device, according to a controlsignal from the processor 100. For example, the switch 202 may connectthe first charging circuit 200 and power supply path of the wirecharging device and provide the power supplied from the wire chargingdevice to the first charging circuit. As another example, the switch 202may connect the second charging circuit 210 and power supply path of thewire charging device and provide the power supplied from the wirecharging device to the second charging circuit.

The first charging circuit 200 may be electrically connected to the wirecharging device via the switch 202 and via the external device interface130. The first charging circuit 200 may convert power supplied from thewire charging device into a charging voltage and a charging current, andprovide the converted charging voltage and charging current to thebattery 220. Further, the first charging circuit 200 may determine thecapacity of the charging current (e.g., charging capacity) of the wirecharging device and inform the processor 100 of the charging capacitywhen the wire charging device is connected to the electronic devicethrough the external device interface 130. The first charging circuit200 may be a switching charging circuit or a linear charging circuit.

The second charging circuit 210 may be electrically connected to thewire charging device via the switch 202 and via the external deviceinterface 130. The second charging circuit 210 may convert powersupplied from the wire charging device into a charging voltage and acharging current and provide the converted charging voltage and chargingcurrent to the battery 220. The second charging circuit 200 may be aswitching charging circuit or a linear charging circuit. For example,the first charging circuit 200 and the second charging circuit 210 maybe the same type of charging circuit or different types of chargingcircuits. In addition, the first charging circuit 200 and the secondcharging circuit 210 may be integrated into a single chip orrespectively into two chips.

As described above, the charging unit 120 may charge the battery 220using a specific charging circuit corresponding to the charge capacityof the wire charging device by controlling the switch 202 according tocontrol of the processor 100.

The external device interface 130 may connect an external electronicdevice with the processor 100 and the charging unit 120. The externaldevice interface 130 may include a USB connection terminal and detect anexternal device or a charging device that is connected to the electronicdevice using a wired connection, and inform the processor 100 of thedetection of the external device or charging device. In addition, theexternal device interface 130 may detect the connection of a wirelesscharging device. For example, the external device interface 130 maydetect the wireless charging device and inform the processor 100 of thedetection of the wireless charging device when an induced current causedby an external charge pad is detected. The external device interface 130may apply the power supplied from the wire charging device to the firstcharging circuit 200, and may apply the power supplied from the wirelesscharging device to the second charging circuit 210.

The touch screen 140 may provide an interface for inputs and outputsbetween the electronic device and a user. The touch screen 140 mayinclude a display unit 141 and an input unit 142. The touch screen 140may be a medium through which a touch input of the user may be detectedand delivered to the processor 100 and/or an output from the processor100 may be displayed and provided to the user.

The display unit 141 may display various information generated duringoperation of the electronic device according to control of the processor100. For example, the display unit 141 may display informationindicating that the electronic device is performing wire charging and/orwireless charging, or display information indicating that the electronicdevice is performing wireless charging while performing the USB OTGoperation.

The input part 142 may include a touch sensor for detecting a touch onthe display unit 141. For example, the input part 142 may detect a userinput requesting entry into the USB OTG mode and may provide thedetected result to the processor 100.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example process for providing a USB OTG functionand charging function according the present disclosure. The operationsof the process may be performed, for example, by the electronic device.

Referring to FIG. 3, the electronic device may check whether a wireconnection device is detected at block 301. If the wire connectiondevice is not detected, block 315 may be performed. On the other hand,if the wire connection device is detected at block 301, at block 303 theelectronic device may determine whether the wire connection device is acharging device (e.g., a charger) for supplying power or whether thewire connection device is an external electronic device for performingthe USB OTG function. For example, the electronic device may determinewhether the wire connection device is a charging device based on IDinformation received from the wire connection device.

The processor 100 can obtain information about the type of the wirecharging device through the ID information received or detected from thecharging device. The ID information of the charging device may beobtained, for example, based on a voltage (or current) value at ID pinincluded in the external device interface 130 or detected when coupledthereto. For example, as described in connection with the FIG. 1, if thevoltage (or current) value detected via the external device interface130 is one, the processor may determine the type of the wire chargingdevice to the external device interface 130 as a travel adaptor (TA). Asanother example, if the resistance value detected via the externaldevice interface 130 is another value, the processor may determine thetype of the wire charging device to the external device interface 130 asa USB storage device or a USB charger.

If the wire connection device is determined to be a wire charging deviceat block 303, the electronic device may convert power supplied from thecharging device into the charging voltage and charging current forcharging the battery (e.g., battery 220) using a first charging circuit(e.g. first charging circuit 200) or a second charging circuit (e.g.,second charging circuit 210) at block 305.

If the first charging circuit and the second charging circuit aredifferent types of charging circuits, the electronic device may selectone of the first and second charging circuits based on the type and/orcharge capacity of the wire charging device and charge the battery usingthe selected charging circuit. Operations for selecting a chargingcircuit and charging a battery based on the type and/or charge capacityof a wire charging device will be described below with reference to FIG.4.

At block 307, the electronic device may determine whether charging usingthe wire charging device has ended. For example, the electronic devicecan determine that charging using the wire charging device has endedwhen the wire charging device is separated from the electronic device.The process may return to block 305 to keep supplying charge power fromthe wire connection device to the battery if the charging using the wirecharging device has not ended, but may end if charging using the wirecharging device has ended.

If at block 303 it is determined that the wire connection device is notthe charging device, at block 309 the electronic device may determinewhether to enter the USB OTG mode. For example, if a storage device isconnected to the electronic device through a USB connection, theelectronic device may display a message inquiring whether to enter theUSB OTG mode and receive an input from a user in response to themessage. The electronic device may also automatically enter the USB OTGmode when an external device which supports the USB OTG mode isconnected. If determination is made not to enter the USB OTG mode, theelectronic device may terminate the process.

If determination is made at block 309 to enter the USB OTG mode, theelectronic device may apply power to the wire connection device byusing, for example, the first charging circuit, at block 311. Forexample, the electronic device may apply power charged in the battery,through the first charging circuit, to an external device that isconnected to the electronic device using a wired connection for theoperation of the external device. At block 313, the electronic devicemay examine whether the USB OTG mode has ended. For example, theelectronic device may determine whether the USB OTG mode has ended whenthe wire connection device is separated from the electronic device orwhen the user requests termination of the USB OTG function.

At block 315, the electronic device may examine whether a wirelesscharge event is detected. For example, the electronic device may detectthe generation of the wireless charge event when a wireless chargefunction is selected by the user or when power supplied by a wirelesscharging device is detected. The charging unit 120 of the electronicdevice may detect the generation of the wireless charge event wheninduced current inputted from the wireless charging device via anexternal device interface 130 is detected. If the wireless charge eventhas not been generated, the process may be repeated from block 301.

If the wireless charge event is generated, at block 317, the electronicdevice may convert wirelessly-charged power into charging voltage andcharging current for charging the battery, using the second chargingcircuit. At this time, the electronic device can apply the power chargedin the battery to the wire connection device using the first chargingcircuit, and at the same time charge the battery using the wirelesscharging voltage received through the second charging circuit. At block319, the electronic device may determine whether the wireless charginghas end. For example, the electronic device may determine that thewireless charging has ended when voltage is no longer detected from thewireless charging device, or when termination of the wireless chargingfunction is requested by a user. If at block 319 determination is madethat the wireless charging has not ended, the process may repeat fromblock 301. If at block 319 determination is made that the wirelesscharging has ended, the process may end.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example process of performing wirecharging according to the present disclosure. The operations of theprocess may be performed, for example, by the electronic device.Descriptions with respect to FIG. 4 will be made assuming that a firstcharging circuit and a second charging included in the electronic deviceare different types of charging circuits. For example, the firstcharging circuit may be a switching charging circuit, and the secondcharging circuit may be a linear charging circuit. For illustrationpurposes, the following description is given under assumption that awireless charging device is not connected to the electronic device.

Referring to FIG. 4, at block 401 the electronic device may detect atype of the wire charging device connected to the electronic device. Atblock 403, the electronic device may detect the charge capacity of thewire charging device detected at block 401 (e.g., amount of the chargingcurrent). In detecting the type of the wire charging device, forexample, the electronic device may receive an ID from the connected wirecharging device and determine the type of the wire charging device.

At block 405, the electronic device may select one of the first chargingcircuit and the second charging circuit included in the electronicdevice based on the determined type and charging capacity of the wirecharging device. The selection may be achieved using a look up tablestored in a memory where various ranges of charging capacity fordifferent type of wire charging devices are pre-stored. For example, theelectronic device may select the switching charging circuit when theamount of voltage (or current) from the wire charging device received ordetected thereon is greater than a threshold value, or if a detectedcharging capacity is equal to or greater than the threshold value. Forexample, the electronic device may select the switching charging circuitif the detected charging capacity is equal to or higher than a 1A. Theelectronic device may select the linear charging circuit if the amountof voltage (or current) from the wire charging device is lower than athreshold value, or if a detected charging capacity is lower than orequal to the threshold value. For example, the electronic device mayselect the linear charging circuit if a detected charging capacity isequal to or lower than a 500 mA.

At block 407, the electronic device may determine whether the firstcharging circuit connected to the wire connection device is selected. Ifdetermination is made at block 407 that the first charging circuit isselected, block 409 may be performed and the electronic device mayconvert power from the wire charging device into the charging voltageand charging current of the electrode device via the first chargingcircuit, for charging the battery of the electronic device. Afterperforming block 409, the process may end.

If at block 407 determination is made that the first charging circuit isnot selected (e.g., the second charging circuit connected to thewireless connected device is selected), block 411 may be performed andthe electronic device may perform a switching operation to switch thepower supply path of the wire charging device from first chargingcircuit to the second charging circuit. For example, the electronicdevice may include a switch (e.g., switch 202) for switching the powersupply path of the wire charging device from first charging circuit tothe second charging circuit to apply power of the wire charging deviceto the second charging circuit. At block 413, the electronic device mayconvert the power from the wire charging device into the chargingvoltage and charging current of the electronic device via the secondcharging circuit, for charging the battery of the electronic device.After performing block 413, the process may end.

FIG. 5A is a diagram illustrating an example process for performing anUSB OTG operation in an electronic device.

Referring to FIG. 5A, the electronic device may apply power to the wireconnection device via the first charging circuit at block 501, andreceive power from the wireless charging device at block 503 forcharging the battery using the second charging circuit. The electronicdevice may perform the operation of block 503 while performing theoperation of block 501. FIG. 5B illustrates hardware means forperforming wireless charging while performing an OTG operation in theelectronic device according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5B, the electronic device includes means 511 forsupplying power to the wire connection device via the first chargingcircuit and means 513 for charging its battery using power supplied fromthe wireless charging device via the second charging circuit.

FIG. 6A is a diagram illustrating an example process for performing wirecharging in an electronic device.

Referring to FIG. 6A, at block 601 the electronic device may select onecharging circuit among a plurality of charging circuits according to awire charging device connected to the electronic device as discussedabove. For example, the electronic device may select a charging circuitaccording to the ID, type and/or charging current of the wire chargingdevice. At block 603, the electronic device may receive power from thewire charging device via the selected charging circuit for charging thebattery of the electronic device.

FIG. 6B illustrates hardware means for performing a wire chargingprocedure in the electronic device according to the present invention.Referring to FIG. 6B, the electronic device includes means 611 forselecting a specific charging circuit among a plurality of chargingcircuits according to a wire charging device connected to the electronicdevice and means 613 for charging the battery using power supplied fromthe wire charging device via the selected charging circuit. In thiscase, the means for selecting the charging circuit of the electronicdevice selects a charging circuit corresponding to the ID, type and/orcapacity of a charging current of the wire charging device.

The above-described methods, processes and/or operations according tothe present disclosure can be implemented in hardware, firmware or assoftware or computer code that can be stored in a recording medium suchas a CD-ROM, RAM, a floppy disk, a hard disk, or a magneto-optical diskor computer code downloaded over a network originally stored on a remoterecording medium or a non-transitory machine readable medium and to bestored on a local recording medium, so that the methods described hereincan be rendered in such software that is stored on the recording mediumusing a general purpose computer, or a special processor or inprogrammable or dedicated hardware, such as an ASIC or FPGA. As would beunderstood in the art, the computer, the processor, the microprocessorcontroller or the programmable hardware may include memory components,e.g., RAM, ROM, Flash, etc. that may store or receive software orcomputer code that when accessed and executed by the computer, processoror hardware implement the methods, processes and/or operations describedherein. In addition, it would be recognized that when a general purposecomputer accesses code for implementing the methods, processes and/oroperations shown herein, the execution of the code transforms thegeneral purpose computer into a special purpose computer for executingthe methods, processes and/or operations shown herein.

While the present disclosure has been shown and described with referenceto certain example embodiments, it will be understood by those skilledin the art that various changes in form and details may be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as definedby the appended claims. Therefore, the scope of the disclosure isdefined not by the detailed description of the disclosure but by theappended claims, and all differences within the scope of the claims willbe construed as being included in the present disclosure.

We claim:
 1. A method of operating an electronic device, the method comprising: detecting an occurrence of a wireless charging event for wirelessly receiving power for charging a battery of the electronic device; charging the battery of the electronic device using the wirelessly received power, based on detecting the occurrence of a wireless charging event; and supplying power from the battery to another electronic device connected to the electronic device via a wired connection, while charging of the battery using the wirelessly received power.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the electronic device comprises a mobile telephone.
 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the electronic device and the other electronic device comprise respective mobile telephones.
 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the electronic device comprises a tablet computer.
 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein detecting an occurrence of a wireless charging event comprises detecting power supplied by a wireless charging device.
 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein detecting power supplied by a wireless charging device comprises detecting an induced current.
 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the wired connection comprises a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connection.
 8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the USB connection comprises a USB On-The-Go (OTG) connection.
 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the charging of the battery using the wirelessly received power uses a first charging circuit and the supplying of power from the battery to the other electronic device uses a second charging circuit different from the first charging circuit.
 10. An electronic device comprising: a battery; and circuitry configured to charge the battery of the electronic device using wirelessly received power and to supply power from the battery to another electronic device connected to the electronic device via a wired connection, while charging of the battery using the wirelessly received power.
 11. The electronic device according to claim 10, comprising a mobile phone.
 12. The electronic device according to claim 10, wherein the electronic device and the other electronic device comprise respective mobile telephones.
 13. The electronic device according to claim 10, comprising a tablet computer.
 14. The electronic device according to claim 10, wherein the circuitry is configured to detect an occurrence of a wireless charging event by detecting power supplied by a wireless charging device.
 15. The electronic device according to claim 14, wherein the circuitry is configured to detect power supplied by a wireless charging device by detecting an induced current.
 16. The electronic device according to claim 10, wherein the wired connection comprises a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connection.
 17. The electronic device according to claim 16, wherein the USB connection comprises a USB On-The-Go (OTG) connection.
 18. The electronic device according to claim 10, wherein the circuitry comprises a first circuit for charging the battery using the wirelessly received power and a second circuit different from the first circuit for supplying power from the battery to the other electronic device. 